In the past, the gaming industry has been criticised for the lack of diversity and inclusivity – especially for gender. Women have not only been underrepresented in the workplace, but they have also been marginalized within games themselves, which we believe may be contributing to the lack of women working in the industry.
However, as the industry grows thanks to the introduction of Immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, it is more important than ever for Immersive and Gaming companies to tackle this imbalance.
More recently, the gaming industry has become a front-runner for pushing towards a more diverse and inclusive future. There have been gradual improvements over the past five years, with studios efforts now bearing fruits and the effects becoming more visible.
Diversity and inclusion programmes, as well as diversity-focused hiring processes and voices across the industry have helped to push this point and have been extremely worthwhile. Education opportunities have also helped to improve industry ratios as a wider range of university courses are now available.
However, like across many industries, there is still room for improvement.
IN THIS PIECE, KEIFER CLITHEROE, SENIOR PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT AT TECHNET IMMERSIVE, TAKES A DEEPER LOOK INTO THE GAMING INDUSTRY, WHY THERE IS A DIVERSITY IMBALANCE AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.
With nearly six years of experience in the industry, Keifer heads up the Immersive team and has established himself as a credible and knowledgeable Immersive and Gaming recruiter.
Throughout his career, Keifer has worked with a wide range of companies, from small studios to global companies, helping them to build and grow their immersive technology teams. He has a deep understanding of the technical and creative skills required to succeed in this field, and he is passionate about matching the right talent with the right opportunities.
WHICH GROUPS ARE WELL-REPRESENTED?
The Immersive and Gaming Salary Survey has enabled us to gather insights from global employees and employers to uncover the truth.
The survey results indicate that race diversity is the most well-represented group, with 71% of employees and 100% of employers agreeing on this.
However, the survey has also revealed that representation for disability and religion is insufficient, which may be due to a lack of awareness on the companies’ part.
WHY IS THERE AN IMBALANCE?
Business leaders may not be aware of the challenges faced or the extent of requirements needed by employees with disabilities or religious beliefs, and therefore have not taken steps to create a more inclusive workplace.
It is also possible that flawed hiring practices within the immersive and gaming industry are unintentionally preventing people with disabilities from being hired. To address these issues, many companies opt to hire through talent partners to implement an unbiased hiring process and eliminate potential barriers.
HOW TO TACKLE UNDERREPRESENTATION
According to survey respondents, their companies could benefit from several improvements, including hiring more female and diverse leaders, as well as providing the necessary training and support to help them succeed in these roles.
Immersive and Gaming employees gave their leadership teams an average diversity rating of 4.2 out of 10, while employers gave a slightly higher rating of 6.1 out of 10. These results suggest that while employers may be more optimistic about their companies’ progress on
diversity and inclusion, there is still a significant gap between the diversity of leadership teams and the expectations and desires of employees.
Creating female and diverse game characters can be a powerful way to inspire and encourage young gamers, particularly girls and underrepresented groups, to pursue careers in the gaming industry. When players see positive and relatable representations of characters who look like them or come from similar backgrounds, they may feel a greater sense of belonging and motivation to enter the industry themselves.
Additionally, many respondents noted that their teams are predominantly young, and they would like to see more age inclusion in their workplace.
Although over recent years we have seen a rapid improvement in the level of representation, it is clear that policies still require refinement.
